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For military families, divorce often comes with additional concerns that civilian families do not have to worry about. While in any divorce, child custody can be a contentious issue, it is especially complicated if a person is in the military and is deployed. While physical custody is usually outlined in the child custody agreement or is determined by a court order, it is difficult to change once the order has been put in place, even in the case of military deployment.

If the child’s parents or the legal guardian of the child do not agree to a modification, the court will often not just change the custody agreement due to deployment in the military. The parents can ask, however, for the court to do a temporary order that can change the agreement for the duration of the parent’s deployment. If this happens, the initial custody choice is usually the other parent, but custody may be granted to grandparents or other individuals if the other parent is not fit to care for the child, or if there are other reasons why someone else would be better suited to have temporary custody.

Child support and visitation agreements may also be altered during military deployment, depending on the specific family circumstances. When the deployment ends, any orders that were instituted temporarily will also usually end. That’s why it is so important for military families to consult an experienced child custody attorney before deployment so that they can make a plan for the child if the parent is sent out to duty. This will reduce confusion and will provide a more stable plan, which is always better for the child.

The court will help with decisions, and will always consider the best interests of the child first. For parents who are considering divorce, it is important to have an attorney who understands the legal process, who can counsel you on your options, and can help you reach an agreement that works for everyone involved. Custody decisions do not have to be contentious if everyone keeps a cool head and thinks about the child first, above their own needs or desires.

When it comes to divorce, military families may face unique challenges like active duty deployment. These issues need to be discussed early on in the process to make sure that the child is cared for and visitation is modified during the individual’s military service. You may also consider making a “family care plan” and filing with the Department of Defense, but keep in mind the court can override a family care plan, so it is not the exact same thing as a court order. It is best if the couple can agree on a plan of action and move forward, but that is not always possible in every case. According to the American Bar Association, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act may also come in handy if your spouse tries to modify the child custody order while you are gone, so talk to your attorney about the unique protections that are available to you if you are the person who is in the military.

Sleeping is one of the most overlooked activities in society. People deprive themselves of sleep because they have work to do, because they want to stay up late just to play video games, or because they see sleeping as a “waste of time.”

But sleeping is not a waste of time. It helps your body and mind recover from the stresses of daily life. In fact, if you don’t get enough sleep, you may have poor mental capabilities, especially in terms of alertness, comprehension, and memorization. You may also experience mental problems like depression, increased irritability, and social withdrawal. Here are some tips you can follow so you can get more sleep and avoid these problems.

Create a sleep schedule – Your body has a sleep and wake cycle, and this can be trained to be consistent. The secret is to have the same sleeping and waking hours every day.

Have a bedtime ritual – Habits are generally formed through triggers, like how you automatically brush your teeth after a meal. You can utilize this technique in sleeping. Do the same thing every night before you sleep, so your body can be trained to know that doing that thing means that bed time comes next, like taking a warm bath or reading a book.

Be physically active – It is also a good idea to engage in physical activity during daytime, so your body may feel more relaxed when it comes to bedtime. Also, avoid daytime naps that can offset your physical activity.

Be comfortable – Comfort can be a significant factor in sleeping. Make sure that your bed is neat, the temperature is not too high or low, and that there are no unnecessary noises that can disturb you.

These tips can be particularly helpful when you already have sleeping disorders, like how insomnia will make it harder for you to fall asleep and how sleep apnea will wake you up from time to time. Sleeping disorders may result into medical conditions as well.

For example, the website of Silent Night Therapy mentions that untreated sleep apnea may lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems such as heart failure and irregular heartbeats.

To sleep better, it is important to understand the importance of getting enough sleep and the risks of sleep deprivation. The knowledge will convince you to utilize the tips above.

So many major accidents have happened in the past and so many errors have been committed, all resulting to the untimely or wrongful death of innocent individuals. Fatal accidents include motor vehicle accidents, among others, while errors can be those committed by vehicle manufacturers (which resulted to defective vehicles or defective vehicle parts) and medical professionals, whose wrong diagnoses, failure to diagnose or mistakes during surgery have cost patients’ lives

Acting responsibly, so as not to put others at risk or cause injury to someone, does not need to be commanded by the law, but since many individuals continue to act negligently or recklessly, laws need to be made and enforced strictly to keep people from being unmindful of the safety of others around them.

These laws include traffic rules, the prohibition of the use of electronic devices while driving, manufacturing responsibilities that will ensure product safety, the standard of medical care which patients deserve to have, safety in the workplace, and so forth.

Wrongful death is the worst result of negligent or reckless acts. It is the major contributing factor in the millions of car accident, harmful or defective products, and hundreds of thousands of medical malpractice, truck accidents, accidents in the workplace, pedestrian accidents, and other types of accident.

Despite the unintentional harm caused on a victim and in spite of having done everything possible in order to avoid causing any harm, there is one presupposed factor of negligence, called strict liability. Strict liability makes the law hold a negligent or reckless person totally liable in an accident and all its consequences.

Loss of life and companionship are not the only painful effects of a wrongful death. There are also the unexpected funeral expenses, loss of future wages and many others than can cause an affected family financial trouble and so much emotional distress.

Filing a civil lawsuit against the liable party, however, may not be a simple endeavor for the grieving family since this legal move also requires much preparation and time in court which will only make the family members remember their loss. Thus, it would be in the best interest of the affected family to contact an experienced wrongful death lawyer, who will be able to provide expert court representation that will enable the surviving members, also called “real parties in interest” to merit the full amount of compensation allowed under the law.

The Amerio Law believes that “no financial gain can undo or erase a family’s traumatic loss and experience. However, legal action can certainly help relieve financial burdens and hopefully help the affected family obtain the justice and closure it deserves.”

You already have a lot to think about at work, so the last thing you want to worry about is a workplace injury. But the truth is you have the right to be in a safe environment, so you can do your tasks in an efficient yet risk-free manner.

To prevent workplace injuries, you should first be aware of the different hazards that can be present in the workplace.

Safety Hazard
One of the most common causes of workplace injuries is the utter disregard for safety. For dangerous work spaces, such as construction sites, employers should enforce safety regulations, like the usage of protective gear, strict implementation of proper equipment operation, and avoidance of overexertion. For relatively safer spaces, such as offices, employers should make sure that there is no defective equipment that may cause injury, like escalators, elevators, and stairs. Injuries concerning safety hazards are so common that there are legal professionals out there who specialize on these kinds of cases, in the same way that law firms like Erez Law handle specific cases like Ponzi schemes fraud.

Chemical Hazard
Chemical hazards are commonly seen on inherently dangerous workplaces, such as factories and manufacturing plants. Chemicals, gases, pesticides, and toxic wastes, are some of the most hazardous substances in the workplace. They may cause burns, skin irritations, and even respiratory problems. Employers have the responsibility to make sure that you are wearing the appropriate gear when in contact with these substances.

Ergonomic Hazard
Ergonomics refer to the proper designing of materials so they can be used comfortably and efficiently. The most common ergonomic issues include the workstation, where the monitor can be too low to comfortably accommodate your head and neck, where the keyboard can be too low that it is putting your wrists in unnecessary strain, and where the overall workstation can be too small that you bend your knees and legs uncomfortably just so you can fit. Experiencing these problems long enough may slowly cause injuries to your body.

Work Environment Hazard
Just as ergonomic hazards have proven, workplace injuries don’t have to be caused by violent accidents. Sometimes, the injuries are sustained because of the continuous straining of the body. The work organization can be a hazard to you, especially when it gives you too much work load that you need to overexert yourself. Issues with your co-workers can also be a problem. This problem can manifest into the form of abuse, sexual harassment, and violence.

Rendering overtime work is not encouraged in most businesses. But when necessary, employees who exceed their regular working hours needs to be paid by their employers. Sadly this is not happening. Overtime pay attorneys at Williams Kherkher will tell you that some employers even devise ways on how they can avoid paying overtime pay. Many businesses wound find ways to skirt around the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act concerning overtime pay.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees covered by the law are entitled to receive overtime pay except those who are considered exempt. The rate of overtime pay is 1.5 times their regular pay. There are several things that your employer will not tell you about overtime pay. As such, you could be losing out on the actual wages you are entitled to. In order to avoid paying overtime wages, employers have devised several ways they can avoid paying overtime wage and here are some of them:

Your employer may ask you to waive your overtime

The law prohibits employers from asking employees to waive overtime. In lieu of overtime pay, employers would offer “comp time” instead. This means you will be paid for time off instead of overtime. In the first place, employers cannot ask their employees to waive their right to overtime pay.

Regular pay rate sometimes includes more than wages

When you are denied of your regular rate, you are missing out on other forms of compensation such as commissions on-call pays, base hourly wage, non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, reasonable cost of meals, to name just a few. The law prohibits employers from calling bonuses as “discretionary” in order to avoid paying overtime pay. Commissions and bonuses should be included in the computation of overtime pay.

Workweek is from Sunday to Saturday

Since overtime pay does not include work on weekends, holidays, or regular rest day, employers will tell their workers that the start of the week is Sunday through Saturday. This is not true. A workweek consists of seven consecutive 24-hour periods.

One of the happiest moments in the life of a parent is the birth of their bundle of joy. On the part of the mother, she carried the baby on her womb for nine months and the excitement will only be greater once the baby comes out. But all the excitement can be wiped out with the news that their baby incurred impairment. According to the website of Karlin, Fleisher & Falkenberg, coping with the knowledge of their baby’s injury can be difficult for parents.
There is often a misconception that birth injuries and birth defects are just the same but this is not the case. Birth injuries are often preventable and are due to human error. On the other hand, birth defects are usually unavoidable and may be related to genes and DNA. In this article, we will discuss the common causes of birth injuries.

Human Factors

Birth injuries can be caused by several human factors ranging from improper handling during delivery, medications, or monitoring issues. Birth injuries due to human causes can be mild or severe. The former can be easily noticed while the latter may develop a few hours or days after the birth of the child.

Delayed Birth

Birth injuries may also arise from the baby staying too long in the birth canal for too many hours. According to medical experts, 18 hours of labor is the ideal time for cesarean section. After that, the baby is going to be in distress due to the compression from the birth canal.

Oxygen Deprivation

Brain related injuries in babies during birth results from oxygen deprivation. Extended hours in the birth canal can result to a prolapsed or kinked umbilical cord. Likewise, a baby with a low birth weight is also susceptible to oxygen deprivation. This can be uncovered during monitoring. However, if the symptoms are not detected immediately, the bay could suffer from brain injury.

Medical Error

Doctors and other medical personnel are highly trusted for their expertise and foresight in preventing avoidable problems. But they are still humans prone to make mistakes. Unfortunately, a simple medical mistake can result to pain and suffering for the parents. The error can make the baby severely disabled for life requiring long term care.

If you are a car driver in the US and you are to renew your car registration or driver’s license, or if ever you get involved in an accident or get pulled over by a traffic enforcer, one important document that will be asked of you, and which you will need to show, is proof that you have auto liability insurance.

Auto liability insurance is one way through which you can comply with the financial responsibility law, a law that requires drivers in the US to demonstrate their financial capability to pay for damages resulting from an accident wherein they are at fault. This law does not specifically mandate the carrying of auto insurance, just the capability to pay compensatory damages. For this reason, alternative options are available for drivers in the states of Virginia and New Hampshire (which happens to be the only state that does not mandate the carrying of auto liability insurance on drivers).

In the state of Virginia, drivers may choose to register their car as uninsured, but only after depositing cash or securities with their state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). In New Hampshire, drivers may purchase an auto liability policy if they choose to do so, however, to be able to comply with this state’s Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility requirements, it is enough for drivers to deposit cash or post a bond with the state. (There are certain instances when the state may require a driver to purchase and maintain auto insurance for some time. This is the case when a driver is cited for the reckless operation of a motor vehicle for a second and subsequent times, is he/she is found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident, if he/she is convicted of vehicular homicide, DUI or DWI or certain types of motor vehicle-related violations.)

In all other 48 states, carrying of auto liability insurance is a mandate, and the type of auto insurance that drivers need to carry depends on the type of insurance system that is recognized by their state: the “tort” or in a “no-fault” insurance system.

Under the tort system (38 states are currently under this), there is always someone held accountable for the accident (for drivers who wish to carry auto insurance in Virginia and New Hampshire, this is the available insurance coverage for them). The victim in an accident has the option to file a civil lawsuit against the liable party and claim compensation from the liable party’s insurance provider. The “no-fault” system, however, eliminates the need to file any lawsuit since compensation will be paid by the respective insurance providers of the drivers involved in the accident. Twelve states actually recognize this system: Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Utah, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Kentucky; the last three, however, allow drivers to choose either the tort liability car insurance or the no-fault liability car insurance.

Despite the mandate, more than 29 million drivers, according to the Insurance Research Council (IRC), remain uninsured. Many of these drivers find insurance premiums just too costly for them to keep on paying. Independent car insurance companies tell drivers, however, to use auto insurance quotes to compare prices; besides being free, these quotes are also sure to help drivers find the best deal based on their specific needs and budget.

There are many ways on how you can save a failing business. Applying for a business loan, for instance, is one of the most tried and tested ways in refinancing your depleting capital. You may also choose to apply for bankruptcy in order to prevent creditors from chasing after your assets. Finally, you may also choose to work with regional centers to receive funding from foreign investors. According to the website of AmLaw Group Law Firm, many individuals are interested in immigrating to the U.S. as investors, and you can leverage this interest for your business.

You may also choose to revisit your marketing strategy to see if there is anything you can do to increase transactions. Right now, savvy brands are becoming more and more aware about how powerful mobile apps are in driving conversions and sales. In business, your app could be your saving grace due to these different reasons:

App ensures visibility on the go

People are almost always on the go, which makes them turn heavily to mobile phones and smartphones when accomplishing tasks. A person coming home from work might be in the lookout for the best restaurant in town, or the best hotel to book for the weekend, and having an app to help your customers means you will never miss out on anything.

App promises continuous engagement

Customers who downloaded your app for business are your most loyal customers. Why? Apart from mustering the energy (and sometimes, the funds) needed to download your app, these customers will always be in the know of any product or service offerings and updates.

App can give what desktop sites can’t

Desktop sites are great when you want to drive traffic from audience at home or at work. However, having only a desktop site to market (and re-market) your products or services can be very dangerous, especially now that people are always accessing the Internet in whichever way they want – tablet, mobile, web-enabled TV etc. With hybrid apps, or apps that can adapt to different platforms, you can reach your customers whenever they feel like using their smartphone or tablet.

Workplace injuries can be one of the more complicated and stressful legal proceedings that one could ever go through. There are so many factors involved – such as the incident itself, investigation of the even, the accountability of the employer and the insurance provider, et cetera – that acquiring compensation for the injury sustained can be a battle that is long and extremely arduous.

WorkSTEPS, Inc. states on its website that claims for workers compensation lessen dramatically when the people who enter into the profession are more physically and mentally capable of the job. Some individuals are injured on the job due to their inexperience or lack of knowledge with what they’re doing. That is why it is so important for employers to effectively screen their workers before they are put into the work force, in order to avoid unnecessary accidents.

The website of Kankakee workers’ compensation attorneys of Spiros Law, P.C. indicates that as many as one in five American workers may suffer an injury that is so debilitating, they will not be able to work for at least a year. The loss of these wages could be devastating doing those numbers, that’s at least 30 million Americans who suffer such a devastating event.

Incidents of this nature are thereby better handled by professionals who have experience with dealing with circumstances like this. Not only do they have better resources in order to better aid the injured into the path to recovery but they also have sufficient knowledge on the best way to go about the situation so that it runs smoothly and without incident. The aid and wisdom of someone who knows what they’re doing can be a comfort for everyone involved as everything can proceed as back to normal as it can, with everyone on the receiving end of righteous justice.

Were you injured due to the actions of someone else? In the plainest definition of the term, this is a case of personal injury – but such circumstances need to be thought of complexly.

Personal injury is the area of law for any injury that a person has sustained – whether this is to the body, mind, or psyche. These cases are pursued by the civilians who were the victims of the case and thereby, this is a legal proceeding that is not spearheaded by the government. This is then a formal lawsuit to which the private individual (called the “plaintiff”) must then file a civil complaint.

It can be quite complicated and stressful for a private individual to handle on one’s own, however, as there is no federal law for most personal injury cases. That means that the circumstances that surround your case have consequences that are directly dependent on the state law that covers that particular case. For example, the practice of the state law involving personal injury is different from the one an Indiana personal injury lawyer is familiar with to the experience that of a Sheboygan personal injury lawyer. They can vary greatly. Sometimes, the assistance of these professionals is necessary in order for the proceedings to flow smoothly and without unnecessary incident or failure.

The truth, in the end, rests in the circumstances. As every circumstance is different, there is no one way of telling on whether or not you have a probable lawsuit on your hands or not. That is why it is advised that you contact an experienced attorney and then get warranted legal advice as to whether or not you should pursue this matter in a court of law or not. Some cases are legally constituted as ones of personal injury but pursuing the matter may not get you much in damages and only adding the stress of a court case and the services of a lawyer.